VENICE, La. – Day one leaders, Team Chevy/Miss Micki 2 will sit out the second day of Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour competition – but not because of the stormy conditions that greeted the morning checkout from Venice Marina.
It’s simply a matter of probability. With a 51-pound, 15-ounce king to their credit, team captain Ricky Rowland figures his chances of improvement are minute. According to tournament format, the top five teams advance to Sunday’s finale based on their heaviest fish from day one or day two. Pairing a good final round fish with a team’s best qualifying fish determines the final placement, so Rowland and crew will trade another day of competition for a day of scouting.
“We’re going to zero in on where everybody’s catching fish in the mid-30’s because that’s what we 
need (for the final round),” Rowland said. “The odds of catching another 50 are so slim that we’ll concentrate on finding a big school of fish so we know we can go back there and get one.”
The leaders will also use their off day preparing tackle, prepping their boat and venturing offshore to find several spots where they can catch live bait during the final round. Because Venice Marina sits well upriver from the Gulf, anglers cannot keep previously caught saltwater baitfish alive overnight in bait pens. Therefore, teams start each day with requisite baitfish harvesting duties.
The basic method involves working gold hook “sabiki” rigs weighted with lead sinkers around the legs 
of offshore drilling rigs. Blue runners (aka “hardtails”) become ensnared when they snap at the shiny hooks, which are often dressed with feathers or quills. Other options include casting tiny diamond jigs or lead head jigs dressed with nylon or Mylar skirts.
Few would start their day without at least a couple dozen baitfish in their live well, but many boats will also use dead ribbonfish. Team Chevy/Miss Micki 2 and fifth place Native Premonitions caught their day one kings on ribbons. Colorful skirts and other teasers enhance live and dead bait presentations by helping kingfish spot the offerings.
Overall, the day one weights were lower than expected for the heralded delta fishery. Consistently
windy weather earlier in the week had stirred the Gulf, but despite the day’s forecast for scattered thunderstorms, conditions have generally ripened for a good day two bite.
Venice Marina co-owner Bill Butler sits in seventh place with a 39-14 caught on his Crawgator. He said he’s expecting plenty of action. “We’re getting rid of that high pressure and getting that south wind pushed back in here, so the fish should turn on. They should bite like bulldogs – don’t hang your feet over the side of the boat.”
Although many teams struggled on day one, some found plenty of action. Ozzie Fischer on the third place Team Century-Yamaha out of Fort Myers, Fla. said his team caught approximately 40 kings. They actually left the fish biting at one spot because they were catching 20- to 30-pound class fish.
Logan’s Run, captained by David Logan of Belville, N.C. enters day two in fourth with 41-05. Logan said that if he can get back on the fish he found before all the rough weather, he’ll make a strong run at the top spot. “The fish I caught in practice would have put me in first place.”
Sitting in sixth place with a 40-pound, 10-ounce king, Mark Kennedy of Mobile, Ala., took his Team Kwazar east of the Mississippi Delta to fish a drilling rig south of Mobile Bay. With more 50’s likely on day two, he’ll probably return to one of his local spots and wait for that big bite.
Logistics
Teams will take off from Venice Marina located at 237 Sports Marina Road in Venice at 7:00 each
morning. Scales open at 4 p.m. and all teams must check-in by 5 p.m. The morning start and weigh-in are free and open to the public. Sunday’s final weigh-in will be held at Venice Marina beginning at 5 p.m.
The full field competes Friday and Saturday with the top five teams advancing to Sunday’s final round. Winners are determined based upon the heaviest kingfish from Friday or Saturday plus the heaviest kingfish from Sunday.
Teams will fish for a top award of up to $100,000 cash. The teams will also be vying for valuable points that could earn them a berth into the no-entry-fee Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour Championship in Biloxi, Miss., Nov. 14-16 for a shot at winning as much as $150,000.
Saturday’s conditions:
Sunrise: 6:27 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 78 degrees
Expected high temperature: 81 degrees
Water temperature: 80-82 degrees
Wind: from the south at 5-10 mph
Humidity: 77 percent
Day’s outlook: Scattered thunderstorms